


I Am Damaged

by Sohotthateveryonedied



Series: Whumptober 2019 [14]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Scars, Slavery, Whumptober 2019, prompt: scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 22:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21044006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sohotthateveryonedied/pseuds/Sohotthateveryonedied
Summary: Jaime sees Bart shirtless and learns just what the future Blue Beetle did to him.





	I Am Damaged

**Author's Note:**

> Day 15: Scars

“I think there’s tartar sauce in my pants,” Bart complains with a shudder.    
  
“At least you don’t have maple syrup in your hair,” Cassie says, holding her arms away from her sticky body. “This is going to take  _ hours  _ to get out.”    
  
Virgil flicks mustard off his dreads. “I vote we make the OGs fight Condiment King next time he shows up. They got to handle cool villains like Amazo and Parasite in the old days, and who do we get? A guy who shoots ketchup at us.” He sticks his tongue out.    
  
Gar has transformed into a cat and licks the barbeque sauce off his fur. “Next time we should bring burgers.”    
  
“Dude.  _ Please  _ just shower like a normal person.” Virgil shakes his head. “Nasty.”   
  
Gar hisses, which makes them all laugh.    
  
It’s not long before everyone filters out to take their showers, leaving Bart and Jaime as the only ones left in the locker room. Jaime has never been more grateful for his full-body armor than at this very moment.    
  
Bart whines, holding his nose. “I’m never eating fish and chips again.”    
  
Jaime wipes his ketchup-coated armor off with a towel. “Have you even had fish and chips before?”   
  
“No, but I was thinking about it. And now those plans are gone.” Bart makes a face and strips out of his suit. “Yuck.”   
  
“If he’d been shooting chocolate sauce at us, I guarantee you’d—” Jaime tapers off, eyes widening when he gets a good look at Bart’s shirtless torso.    
  
Bart’s balling up his suit. “Hm?” He glances up. “Jaime?” His brows furrow until he seems to realize what Jaime is staring at and his face pales. “Shit. Uh. Sorry, I forgot, um—”   
  
He grabs his clean shirt and moves to put it on, but Jaime takes a step forward, almost like he’s in a trance. “What...What happened?”   
  
Bart’s back and chest are  _ covered  _ in scars. It pains Jaime just to look at it. They crisscross his skin in painful arrays, some white and some still a dark pink. A burn on his hip. A slash up his ribcage. A cluster of lines on the small of his back, crossing over each other in a way that reminds Jaime of pressing the tines of a fork into peanut butter cookies. He’s almost certain those ones are from a whip.    
  
Bart’s ears are pink. He stares at the floor. “I mean, you knew I was a slave. And the Reach aren’t very nice to their property, so…”    
  
Jaime’s mouth flounders. “I thought you heal.”    
  
“Yeah, well.” Bart pulls on his shirt, covering up the horrific sight. Jaime can still see it in his mind. “Inhibitor collar. Can’t heal if you’ve got no powers.” He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood, but it doesn’t work.    
  
“I—I had no idea.”   
  
“If it makes you feel any better, no one really does. If I told Flash he’d just get all weepy, and Grandma has her own kids to worry about.”    
  
Jaime almost doesn’t want to ask, but he needs to know. “Did...Did I do that?”   
  
Bart’s expression sours and he turns away, collecting his soiled uniform. He goes to walk out, but Jaime grabs his wrist. Bart flinches on instinct, and immediately Jaime feels awful and lets go. “Sorry, but...I need to know.”    
  
Bart chews his lip, emerald eyes dark. “You know it wasn’t  _ really  _ you, right?”   
  
Jaime stiffens. “So I did? God, Bart, I’m so sorry.”   
  
Bart shrugs. “It wasn’t you. It was the other Blue Beetle.”   
  
“I know, but I still—”    
  
_ “No.” _ Bart takes him by the hand, head tipped up so he can look directly into Jaime’s eyes. “It  _ wasn’t you.  _ The Reach did this to me. And we stopped them, right?”    
  
Jaime’s heart pangs. “I’m still sorry.”    
  
“Well don’t be. You’d never hurt me, right?”   
  
“Of course not.”   
  
Bart smiles, squeezing Jaime’s hand. “Then shut up about it. Okay?”    
  
He doesn’t back down until Jaime nods, releasing a breath. “Okay.”   
  
Bart drops his hand. “Crash. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go shower for five hours because there is  _ definitely  _ tartar sauce in my pants.”    
  


**Author's Note:**

> [Feel free to mosey on down to my Tumblr!](http://sohotthateveryonedied.tumblr.com/)


End file.
